Home LearningExcellence In...Higher Education NYU Abu Dhabi Launches Four New Research Centres

NYU Abu Dhabi Launches Four New Research Centres

by Eddie Rayner

NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) Research Institute has announced the establishment of four new research centres – the Arabian Centre for Climate and Environmental ScienceS (ACCESS), the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR), the Centre for Smart Engineering Materials (CSEM), and the Centre for Quantum and Topological Systems – which will support global efforts to provide solutions to the world’s most pressing issues.

Provost of NYU Abu Dhabi Arlie Peters commented: “As a global liberal arts and research university in and of Abu Dhabi, the drive to address global challenges serves as the guiding force in our mission to be a hub of development, innovation, engagement, and positive change for the UAE, the region, and the world. We follow a multidisciplinary approach to the discovery of new knowledge, and the establishment of four new research centres is a meaningful addition to our existing efforts to contribute to the development of a diversified knowledge economy and society in Abu Dhabi, help to advance NYU’s global mission, and carve a new model for higher education for the betterment of humanity. We are extremely proud of our scholars and students who remain dedicated to driving discoveries that are making a positive change to the world.”

Managing Director of The Research Institute SehamuddinGaladari said: “As a world-class hub for cutting-edge research, we are very proud to be adding these four new centres to our Research Institute, all of which will address various and critical areas of research. We are committed to contributing to the UAE’s vision of becoming a knowledge-based economy through science and innovation, and we are confident that the addition of the centres will help fulfil this goal even further.”

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, November 11, 2015: Students take an experimental neurobiology class at the NYU Abu Dhabi campus on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi. Looking in microscopes. (Photo / Silvia Razgova – Philip Cheung)

The Centre for Quantum and Topological Systems

The Centre for Quantum and Topological Systems serves as a nucleation point for cross-disciplinary expertise in the theory and application of Quantum Topological Systems in general, with an emphasis on the unifying goal of robust Quantum Computation in particular – combining all questions from theoretical foundations (quantum error-correction) over hardware (topological quantum materials and novel quantum chips), architecture (parameterized quantum circuits) and software (quantum programming languages and hardware-aware software optimisations) to applications (quantum machine learning and quantum cryptography).

The Centre is led by Principal Investigator Hisham Sati along with Co-Principal investigators Muhammad Shafique, Saurabh Ray, Farah Shamout, TukaAlhanai, Tim Byrnes, and Pilkyung Moon.


Areas of research include climate and the environment, artificial intelligence and robotics, smart engineering materials, and quantum and topological systems


The Arabian Centre for Climate and Environmental Sciences (ACCESS)

The Arabian Centre for Climate and Environmental ScienceS (ACCESS) is a leading research centre on the climate and the environment of the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf region. It intends to bring scientific research on local and regional climate change and the environment up to speed with the rapid development of the societies and economies that dwell in the region. To this end, the Centre is building observational and modelling capacity in the marine and atmospheric sector, integrating the multidisciplinary competencies present within NYUAD and the NYU Global Network. The Centre collaborates with UAE government agencies and public stakeholders, and its scientists are part of the Climate Change Research Network (CCRN). At the same time, the Centre focuses on basic scientific research (e.g., on rainfall, coral reefs, plankton dynamics, urban environments, instrument development, etc.), which is locally motivated but has global implications.

ACCESS is led by Principal Investigator Francesco Paparella along with Co-Principal Investigators Shady Amin, John Burt, Monica Menendez, Olivier Pauluis, Farah Shamout, Anthony Tzes, and Shafer Smith.


“As a world-class hub for cutting-edge research, we are very proud to be adding these four new centres to our Research Institute”


Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR)

Faculty from electrical and computer engineering, psychology, and computer science from NYUAD and NYU New York (NYUNY) established CAIR to conduct fundamental research and develop applications in AI and robotics. Its research areas include the processing and fusion of data from sensors to perceive the surroundings of the robot and intention of moving objects, path planning and navigation in unknown environments, coordination of multi-agent systems formed by groups of robots, brain-machine interfaces, autonomous decision making, and robotic safety and resiliency.

CAIR is led by Principal Investigator Anthony Tzes along with Co-Principal Investigators Farshad Khorrami and Yann LeCun.

Centre for Smart Engineering Materials (CSEM)

The Centre for Smart Engineering Materials (CSEM) provides an institutional research platform and organisational framework for active collaboration between science and engineering faculty, researchers, and students working in materials science. The Centre’s faculty and researchers design, prepare and implement smart materials and devices relevant to the key sectors of the UAE’s economy. By using an integrated, multidisciplinary, and synergistic approach in a pipeline research, characterisation, optimisation, and implementation, the faculty and researchers of CSEM aim to provide smart and sustainable solutions to the requirement for smart devices for sensing and diagnostics in the oil/gas and civil engineering sectors, and to become leaders in delivering innovative technologies to the MENA region and internationally.

CSEM is led by the Principal Investigators Panče Naumov and Mohammed Daqaq along with the Co-Principal Investigators Kemal Celik, Mahmoud Rasras, Jamie Whelan, and Serdal Kirmizialtin.